As part of our month-long focus on building awareness about sexual assault, AMU professor Michael Pittaro introduces us to Sarah Lovell, who survived and recovered from years of sexual abuse and drug and alcohol addiction. Sarah shares her story so others can understand the damage caused by sexual assault and why this crime needs to be prevented and offenders prosecuted. Read more about Sarah's story and what she's doing to help others.

At a dark time in U.S. history, the trans-Atlantic slave trade was at its peak, with more than 12 million people shipped to various nations only to endure punishing labor on farms and in factories, building railroads, and more. “Slavery was abolished 150 years ago and yet there are more people in slavery today than in any other time in our history,” said American Public University System (APUS) professor Michael Pittaro. Today, there are an estimated 21 million victims worldwide and only a small percentage of these victims are reported to authorities.

Human trafficking is a local issue. Read more about why community stakeholders and citizens gathered in West Virginia to learn how to recognize and fight human trafficking at the local level.

Victims of human trafficking are transported on the same roads we travel each day. Learn about one organization that has created a national network of truck drivers to help educate others about how to recognize human trafficking activity and victims on our nations roadways.

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery with victims providing labor or services through force, fraud or coercion. This crime is happening everywhere, from large cities to small towns around the world.

The true size of this problem is immeasurable, but the Northern Tier Anti-Trafficking Consortium (NTAC) estimates that 800,000 individuals are trafficked across international borders every year and 27 million people are enslaved across the world.

By Elizabeth Cook, faculty member, International Relations at American Public University

An estimated 27 million people are currently enslaved around the world in either the forced labor or sex trade (Bales, 2012). This is a truly disturbing statistic that fosters discourse about why it is wrong and must be stopped.

About American Military University

AMU is the nation’s largest provider of online higher education to the U.S. military, and offers more than 190 degree and certificate programs including Homeland Security, Intelligence Studies, Emergency & Disaster Management, Criminal Justice, and more.